Opening Day: Phillies sail past Great Falls 11-6

The Reston American LL Phillies Majors sailed past the Great Falls Phillies 11-6 on opening day. Reston jumped on the Great Falls starter after a leadoff ground out by Michael. Kyle was hit by a pitch, Reece grounded into a fielders choice and the shortstop didn’t stay on the bag when he caught the ball and everyone was ruled safe. Krishnan walked to load the bases and William reached on an infield error to score Kyle. Sam came up with a huge two out single to score Reece and William. Bottom of the first and Michael went to work. The first batter grounded out to Krishnan who fired to Aidan for out one. The next batter hit a hard shot to William at second who made a nice play for out two. A single and a walk and some wild pitches resulted in a run but the last batter flew out to center where Sam made a nice catch for out three. After one it was Reston 3 Great Falls 1.

Top of the second and Aidan led off with a walk. Isaac after hitting a hard foul that was an inch from being fair down the left field line hit a hard ground ball that the shortstop came up with and sadly turned into a clean 6-4-3 double play. The next batter struck out. Bottom of the second Michael stayed on the mound. A double and a home run resulted in two runs but Michael struck out the side the end the threat. After two it was a thriller at 3-3.

Top of the third and the top of the order got things back on track. Michael singled to right. Kyle reached on a dropped lazy fly to right. Reece smashed a single to center to score Michael and Kyle. Krishnan grounded out to third and Reece scored on some great baseruning [This reporter heard some players yelling down-angle which used to be a thing only high school coaches talked about which refers to breaking right as the ball hits the ground on a sharp ground ball, but Reece did it perfectly and scored]. Reece came on to face the top of the order. The first batter popped out to first where Kyle caught it in a near-collison with Reece. The next batter grounded right back to the mound for out two. Two errors at second resulted in two runners, but Reece settled down and struck out the next batter for out three. After three it was Reston 6 Great Falls 3.

Top of the fourth and Cam hit a line shot to second for out one. Krish hit a tough chopper to second for out two. Aidan reached on an error at second. Isaac grounded to third for a fielders choice to end the inning. Bottom of the fourth and Krishnan came on an struck out the first two batters. Two walks and a single loaded the bases. The last batter grounded out to first where Cam made a huge play for out three. After four it was still Reston 6 Great Falls 3.

Top of the fifth and Evan got things started as he drew a walk. Joseph reached on an infield single. Michael drilled a long double to right to score Evan and Joseph. Kyle doubled to left to score Michael. Krishnan singled to score Kyle. Kyle came on in the bottom of the fifth and struck out the first batter he faced. Two walks and some wild pitches scored two runs. Kyle struck out the next batter and Reece gunned down the runner attempting to steal third for out three. After five it was Reston 10 Great Falls 5.

Top of the sixth and Krish singled, Aidan reached first on an error. Isaac hit a soft roller to the mound but the pitcher threw it into right field to score Krish. Evan was hit by a pitch and Joseph grounded out to first to end the inning. Sam came on the mound in the sixth and struck out two batters in a row and the last batter grounded out to William at second who made a nice throw to Aidan for out three. Final Score: Reston 11 Great Falls 6.

We were able to catch up with Coach Grossman after the game. He was available only briefly as he was starting preparations for practice next week. He said, “This is an awfully fun team to work with. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to pitch five pitchers and use four catchers in game one. It makes it a lot more fun for the whole team. I think everyone got on base and almost everyone put a ball in play. We need to work on our fielding as we made a few errors and our pitchers gave up nine walks so we will certainly work on reducing walks. Special thanks goes to our phenomenal coaching staff for getting this team ready in only a week.”